When Elwood Curtis, a black boy growing up in 1960s Tallahassee, is unfairly sentenced to a juvenile reformatory called the Nickel Academy, he finds himself trapped in a grotesque chamber of horrors. Elwood’s only salvation is his friendship with fellow "delinquent" Turner, which deepens despite Turner’s conviction that Elwood is hopelessly naive, that the world is crooked, and that the only way to survive is to scheme and avoid trouble. As life at the Academy becomes ever more perilous, the tension between Elwood’s ideals and Turner’s skepticism leads to a decision.

5 out of 5 stars

Must Read

Écrit par
Utilisateur anonyme
le
2019-08-21

Coming Up for Air

Auteur(s):
Sarah Leipciger

Narrateur(s):
Elliot Cowan,
Deborah McBride,
Claudia Jessie

Durée: 10 h et 5 min

Version intégrale

Au global

0 out of 5 stars
0

Performance

0 out of 5 stars
0

Histoire

0 out of 5 stars
0

On the banks of the River Seine in 1899, a young woman takes her final breath before plunging into the icy water. Although she does not know it, her decision will set in motion an astonishing chain of events. It will lead to 1950s Norway, where a grieving toy-maker is on the cusp of a transformative invention, all the way to present-day Ottawa Valley in Canada, where a journalist, battling a terrible disease, risks everything for one last chance to live.

American Dirt (Oprah's Book Club)

A Novel

Auteur(s):
Jeanine Cummins

Narrateur(s):
Yareli Arizmendi

Durée: 16 h et 43 min

Version intégrale

Au global

4.5 out of 5 stars
543

Performance

5 out of 5 stars
491

Histoire

4.5 out of 5 stars
492

Lydia Quixano Pérez lives in the Mexican city of Acapulco. She runs a bookstore. She has a son, Luca, the love of her life, and a wonderful husband who is a journalist. And while there are cracks beginning to show in Acapulco because of the drug cartels, her life is, by and large, fairly comfortable. When Lydia’s husband’s tell-all profile of Javier, the jefe of the newest drug cartel that has gruesomely taken over the city, is published, none of their lives will ever be the same.

5 out of 5 stars

Gut wrenching to listen to...

Écrit par
Amazon Customer
le
2020-01-27

The Sympathizer

A Novel

Auteur(s):
Viet Thanh Nguyen

Narrateur(s):
Francois Chau

Durée: 13 h et 53 min

Version intégrale

Au global

4 out of 5 stars
59

Performance

4.5 out of 5 stars
55

Histoire

4 out of 5 stars
54

Pulitzer Prize, Fiction, 2016. It is April 1975, and Saigon is in chaos. At his villa, a general of the South Vietnamese army is drinking whiskey and, with the help of his trusted captain, drawing up a list of those who will be given passage aboard the last flights out of the country. The general and his compatriots start a new life in Los Angeles, unaware that one among their number, the captain, is secretly observing and reporting on the group to a higher-up in the Viet Cong.

4 out of 5 stars

A great book for anyone who enjoys a slower pace

Écrit par
Louis Savoy
le
2018-08-03

The Dutch House

A Novel

Auteur(s):
Ann Patchett

Narrateur(s):
Tom Hanks

Durée: 9 h et 53 min

Version intégrale

Au global

4.5 out of 5 stars
925

Performance

5 out of 5 stars
858

Histoire

4.5 out of 5 stars
856

At the end of the Second World War, Cyril Conroy combines luck and a single canny investment to begin an enormous real estate empire, propelling his family from poverty to enormous wealth. His first order of business is to buy the Dutch House, a lavish estate in the suburbs outside of Philadelphia. Meant as a surprise for his wife, the house sets in motion the undoing of everyone he loves. The story is told by Cyril’s son Danny, as he and his older sister, the brilliantly acerbic and self-assured Maeve, are exiled from the house where they grew up by their stepmother.

5 out of 5 stars

My heart could just burst!!!!

Écrit par
Utilisateur anonyme
le
2019-10-14

Where the Crawdads Sing

Auteur(s):
Delia Owens

Narrateur(s):
Cassandra Campbell

Durée: 12 h et 12 min

Version intégrale

Au global

4.5 out of 5 stars
3 772

Performance

4.5 out of 5 stars
3 428

Histoire

4.5 out of 5 stars
3 416

For years, rumors of the "Marsh Girl" have haunted Barkley Cove, a quiet town on the North Carolina coast. So in late 1969, when handsome Chase Andrews is found dead, the locals immediately suspect Kya Clark, the so-called Marsh Girl. But Kya is not what they say. Sensitive and intelligent, she has survived for years alone in the marsh that she calls home, finding friends in the gulls and lessons in the sand.

2 out of 5 stars

A Harlequin Romance, with Zoology Thrown In

Écrit par
Wandering
le
2019-08-25

The Nickel Boys (Winner 2020 Pulitzer Prize for Fiction)

A Novel

Auteur(s):
Colson Whitehead

Narrateur(s):
JD Jackson,
Colson Whitehead

Durée: 6 h et 46 min

Version intégrale

Au global

4.5 out of 5 stars
61

Performance

4.5 out of 5 stars
55

Histoire

4.5 out of 5 stars
55

When Elwood Curtis, a black boy growing up in 1960s Tallahassee, is unfairly sentenced to a juvenile reformatory called the Nickel Academy, he finds himself trapped in a grotesque chamber of horrors. Elwood’s only salvation is his friendship with fellow "delinquent" Turner, which deepens despite Turner’s conviction that Elwood is hopelessly naive, that the world is crooked, and that the only way to survive is to scheme and avoid trouble. As life at the Academy becomes ever more perilous, the tension between Elwood’s ideals and Turner’s skepticism leads to a decision.

5 out of 5 stars

Must Read

Écrit par
Utilisateur anonyme
le
2019-08-21

Coming Up for Air

Auteur(s):
Sarah Leipciger

Narrateur(s):
Elliot Cowan,
Deborah McBride,
Claudia Jessie

Durée: 10 h et 5 min

Version intégrale

Au global

0 out of 5 stars
0

Performance

0 out of 5 stars
0

Histoire

0 out of 5 stars
0

On the banks of the River Seine in 1899, a young woman takes her final breath before plunging into the icy water. Although she does not know it, her decision will set in motion an astonishing chain of events. It will lead to 1950s Norway, where a grieving toy-maker is on the cusp of a transformative invention, all the way to present-day Ottawa Valley in Canada, where a journalist, battling a terrible disease, risks everything for one last chance to live.

American Dirt (Oprah's Book Club)

A Novel

Auteur(s):
Jeanine Cummins

Narrateur(s):
Yareli Arizmendi

Durée: 16 h et 43 min

Version intégrale

Au global

4.5 out of 5 stars
543

Performance

5 out of 5 stars
491

Histoire

4.5 out of 5 stars
492

Lydia Quixano Pérez lives in the Mexican city of Acapulco. She runs a bookstore. She has a son, Luca, the love of her life, and a wonderful husband who is a journalist. And while there are cracks beginning to show in Acapulco because of the drug cartels, her life is, by and large, fairly comfortable. When Lydia’s husband’s tell-all profile of Javier, the jefe of the newest drug cartel that has gruesomely taken over the city, is published, none of their lives will ever be the same.

5 out of 5 stars

Gut wrenching to listen to...

Écrit par
Amazon Customer
le
2020-01-27

The Sympathizer

A Novel

Auteur(s):
Viet Thanh Nguyen

Narrateur(s):
Francois Chau

Durée: 13 h et 53 min

Version intégrale

Au global

4 out of 5 stars
59

Performance

4.5 out of 5 stars
55

Histoire

4 out of 5 stars
54

Pulitzer Prize, Fiction, 2016. It is April 1975, and Saigon is in chaos. At his villa, a general of the South Vietnamese army is drinking whiskey and, with the help of his trusted captain, drawing up a list of those who will be given passage aboard the last flights out of the country. The general and his compatriots start a new life in Los Angeles, unaware that one among their number, the captain, is secretly observing and reporting on the group to a higher-up in the Viet Cong.

4 out of 5 stars

A great book for anyone who enjoys a slower pace

Écrit par
Louis Savoy
le
2018-08-03

The Dutch House

A Novel

Auteur(s):
Ann Patchett

Narrateur(s):
Tom Hanks

Durée: 9 h et 53 min

Version intégrale

Au global

4.5 out of 5 stars
925

Performance

5 out of 5 stars
858

Histoire

4.5 out of 5 stars
856

At the end of the Second World War, Cyril Conroy combines luck and a single canny investment to begin an enormous real estate empire, propelling his family from poverty to enormous wealth. His first order of business is to buy the Dutch House, a lavish estate in the suburbs outside of Philadelphia. Meant as a surprise for his wife, the house sets in motion the undoing of everyone he loves. The story is told by Cyril’s son Danny, as he and his older sister, the brilliantly acerbic and self-assured Maeve, are exiled from the house where they grew up by their stepmother.

5 out of 5 stars

My heart could just burst!!!!

Écrit par
Utilisateur anonyme
le
2019-10-14

Where the Crawdads Sing

Auteur(s):
Delia Owens

Narrateur(s):
Cassandra Campbell

Durée: 12 h et 12 min

Version intégrale

Au global

4.5 out of 5 stars
3 772

Performance

4.5 out of 5 stars
3 428

Histoire

4.5 out of 5 stars
3 416

For years, rumors of the "Marsh Girl" have haunted Barkley Cove, a quiet town on the North Carolina coast. So in late 1969, when handsome Chase Andrews is found dead, the locals immediately suspect Kya Clark, the so-called Marsh Girl. But Kya is not what they say. Sensitive and intelligent, she has survived for years alone in the marsh that she calls home, finding friends in the gulls and lessons in the sand.

2 out of 5 stars

A Harlequin Romance, with Zoology Thrown In

Écrit par
Wandering
le
2019-08-25

The Testaments

A Novel

Auteur(s):
Margaret Atwood

Narrateur(s):
Ann Dowd,
Bryce Dallas Howard,
Mae Whitman,
Autres

Durée: 13 h et 18 min

Version intégrale

Au global

5 out of 5 stars
2 074

Performance

5 out of 5 stars
1 910

Histoire

5 out of 5 stars
1 902

Margaret Atwood's dystopian masterpiece, The Handmaid's Tale, has become a modern classic - and now she brings the iconic story to a dramatic conclusion in this riveting sequel. More than 15 years after the events of The Handmaid's Tale, the theocratic regime of the Republic of Gilead maintains its grip on power, but there are signs it is beginning to rot from within. At this crucial moment, the lives of three radically different women converge, with potentially explosive results.

In 1985, Anthony Ray Hinton was arrested and charged with two counts of capital murder in Alabama. Stunned, confused, and only 29 years old, Hinton knew that it was a case of mistaken identity and believed that the truth would prove his innocence and ultimately set him free. But with an incompetent defense attorney and a different system of justice for a poor black man in the South, Hinton was sentenced to death by electrocution. He spent his first three years on Death Row at Holman State Prison in despairing silence.

5 out of 5 stars

The Unimaginable becomes Reality

Écrit par
dave
le
2018-04-04

Less

Auteur(s):
Andrew Sean Greer

Narrateur(s):
Robert Petkoff

Durée: 8 h et 17 min

Version intégrale

Au global

4 out of 5 stars
225

Performance

4.5 out of 5 stars
206

Histoire

4 out of 5 stars
205

You are a failed novelist about to turn 50. A wedding invitation arrives in the mail: Your boyfriend of the past nine years is engaged to someone else. You can't say yes - it would be too awkward - and you can't say no - it would look like defeat. On your desk are a series of invitations to half-baked literary events around the world. Question: How do you arrange to skip town? Answer: You accept them all.

4 out of 5 stars

I actually refunded my credit

Écrit par
Utilisateur anonyme
le
2018-12-03

The Tattooist of Auschwitz

A Novel

Auteur(s):
Heather Morris

Narrateur(s):
Richard Armitage

Durée: 7 h et 25 min

Version intégrale

Au global

4.5 out of 5 stars
1 744

Performance

4.5 out of 5 stars
1 576

Histoire

5 out of 5 stars
1 577

In April 1942, Lale Sokolov, a Slovakian Jew, is forcibly transported to the concentration camps at Auschwitz-Birkenau. When his captors discover that he speaks several languages, he is put to work as a Tätowierer (German for tattooist), tasked with permanently marking his fellow prisoners. Imprisoned for more than two and a half years, Lale witnesses horrific atrocities and barbarism - but also incredible acts of bravery and compassion. Risking his own life, he uses his position to exchange jewels and money from murdered Jews for food to keep his fellow prisoners alive.

3 out of 5 stars

Excellent content w an obvious recording flaw

Écrit par
Jody
le
2019-06-03

Cilka's Journey

Auteur(s):
Heather Morris

Narrateur(s):
Louise Brealey

Durée: 11 h et 3 min

Version intégrale

Au global

5 out of 5 stars
193

Performance

5 out of 5 stars
183

Histoire

5 out of 5 stars
179

Cilka is just 16-years-old when she is taken to Auschwitz-Birkenau Concentration Camp in 1942, where the commandant immediately notices how beautiful she is. Forcibly separated from the other women prisoners, Cilka learns quickly that power, even unwillingly taken, equals survival. When the war is over and the camp is liberated, freedom is not granted to Cilka: She is charged as a collaborator for sleeping with the enemy and sent to a Siberian prison camp. But did she really have a choice?

4 out of 5 stars

How could one person possibly endure all that Cilka did?

Écrit par
Alison L
le
2019-12-22

Educated

A Memoir

Auteur(s):
Tara Westover

Narrateur(s):
Julia Whelan

Durée: 12 h et 10 min

Version intégrale

Au global

5 out of 5 stars
4 125

Performance

4.5 out of 5 stars
3 642

Histoire

5 out of 5 stars
3 652

Tara Westover was 17 the first time she set foot in a classroom. Born to survivalists in the mountains of Idaho, she prepared for the end of the world by stockpiling home-canned peaches. In the summer she stewed herbs for her mother, a midwife and healer, and in the winter she salvaged in her father's junkyard. Her father forbade hospitals, so Tara never saw a doctor or nurse. Gashes and concussions, even burns from explosions, were all treated at home with herbalism. Then, lacking any formal education, Tara began to educate herself. Her quest for knowledge transformed her, taking her over oceans and across continents, to Harvard and to Cambridge.

5 out of 5 stars

A Memoir

Écrit par
Vicki Anderson
le
2018-09-14

Such a Fun Age

Auteur(s):
Kiley Reid

Narrateur(s):
Nicole Lewis

Durée: 9 h et 58 min

Version intégrale

Au global

4 out of 5 stars
309

Performance

4.5 out of 5 stars
274

Histoire

4 out of 5 stars
275

Alix Chamberlain is a woman who gets what she wants and has made a living, with her confidence-driven brand, showing other women how to do the same. So she is shocked when her babysitter, Emira Tucker, is confronted while watching the Chamberlains' toddler one night, walking the aisles of their local high-end supermarket. The store's security guard, seeing a young black woman out late with a white child, accuses Emira of kidnapping two-year-old Briar. A small crowd gathers, a bystander films everything, and Emira is furious and humiliated. Alix resolves to make things right.

4 out of 5 stars

Totally enjoyable!

Écrit par
susan matthews
le
2020-05-24

By Chance Alone

A Remarkable True Story of Courage and Survival at Auschwitz

Auteur(s):
Max Eisen

Narrateur(s):
Douglas E. Hughes

Durée: 5 h et 59 min

Version intégrale

Au global

5 out of 5 stars
161

Performance

4.5 out of 5 stars
149

Histoire

5 out of 5 stars
148

In the spring of 1944 gendarmes forcibly removed Tibor “Max” Eisen and his family from their home, brought them to a brickyard, and eventually loaded them onto crowded cattle cars bound for Auschwitz-Birkenau. At 15 years of age, Eisen survived the selection process and he was inducted into the camp as a slave laborer. More than 70 years after the Nazi camps were liberated by the Allies, By Chance Alone details Eisen’s story of survival.

5 out of 5 stars

Heartbreaking

Écrit par
DD
le
2019-07-25

The Silent Patient

Auteur(s):
Alex Michaelides

Narrateur(s):
Jack Hawkins,
Louise Brealey

Durée: 8 h et 43 min

Version intégrale

Au global

4.5 out of 5 stars
1 893

Performance

4.5 out of 5 stars
1 741

Histoire

4.5 out of 5 stars
1 735

Alicia Berenson’s life is seemingly perfect. A famous painter married to an in-demand fashion photographer, she lives in a grand house with big windows overlooking a park in one of London’s most desirable areas. One evening, her husband Gabriel returns home late from a fashion shoot, and Alicia shoots him five times in the face and then never speaks another word. Alicia’s refusal to talk, or give any kind of explanation, turns a domestic tragedy into something far grander, a mystery that captures the public imagination and casts Alicia into notoriety.

5 out of 5 stars

WOW WOW WOW

Écrit par
iyixi
le
2019-03-22

Hidden Valley Road

Inside the Mind of an American Family

Auteur(s):
Robert Kolker

Narrateur(s):
Sean Pratt

Durée: 13 h et 8 min

Version intégrale

Au global

4.5 out of 5 stars
64

Performance

4.5 out of 5 stars
57

Histoire

4.5 out of 5 stars
57

Don and Mimi Galvin seemed to be living the American dream. After World War II, Don's work with the Air Force brought them to Colorado, where their 12 children perfectly spanned the baby boom: the oldest born in 1945, the youngest in 1965. In those years, there was an established script for a family like the Galvins - aspiration, hard work, upward mobility, domestic harmony. But behind the scenes was a different story: psychological breakdown, sudden shocking violence, hidden abuse. By the mid-1970s, six of the 10 Galvin boys, one after another, were diagnosed as schizophrenic.

5 out of 5 stars

Informative book

Écrit par
Utilisateur anonyme
le
2020-05-25

Washington Black

Auteur(s):
Esi Edugyan

Narrateur(s):
Dion Graham

Durée: 12 h et 18 min

Version intégrale

Au global

4.5 out of 5 stars
662

Performance

4.5 out of 5 stars
617

Histoire

4.5 out of 5 stars
617

When two English brothers arrive at a Barbados sugar plantation, they bring with them a darkness beyond what the slaves have already known. Washington Black - an 11-year-old field slave - is horrified to find himself chosen to live in the quarters of one of these men. But the man is not as Washington expects him to be. His new master is the eccentric Christopher Wilde - naturalist, explorer, inventor and abolitionist - whose obsession to perfect a winged flying machine disturbs all who know him.

5 out of 5 stars

Awesome!

Écrit par
Louise White
le
2018-11-13

The Water Dancer (Oprah’s Book Club)

A Novel

Auteur(s):
Ta-Nehisi Coates

Narrateur(s):
Joe Morton

Durée: 14 h et 14 min

Version intégrale

Au global

4.5 out of 5 stars
141

Performance

4.5 out of 5 stars
128

Histoire

4.5 out of 5 stars
129

Young Hiram Walker was born into bondage. When his mother was sold away, Hiram was robbed of all memory of her - but was gifted with a mysterious power. Years later, when Hiram almost drowns in a river, that same power saves his life. This brush with death births an urgency in Hiram and a daring scheme: to escape from the only home he’s ever known. So begins an unexpected journey that takes Hiram from the corrupt grandeur of Virginia’s proud plantations to desperate guerrilla cells in the wilderness, from the coffin of the South to dangerously idealistic movements in the North.

5 out of 5 stars

Truly remarkable tale

Écrit par
Utilisateur anonyme
le
2019-10-29

Description

Pulitzer Prize, Fiction, 2017

The Newest Oprah Book Club 2016 Selection

From prize-winning, bestselling author Colson Whitehead, a magnificent tour de force chronicling a young slave's adventures as she makes a desperate bid for freedom in the antebellum South.

Cora is a slave on a cotton plantation in Georgia. Life is hell for all the slaves, but especially bad for Cora; an outcast even among her fellow Africans, she is coming into womanhood—where even greater pain awaits. When Caesar, a recent arrival from Virginia, tells her about the Underground Railroad, they decide to take a terrifying risk and escape. Matters do not go as planned—Cora kills a young white boy who tries to capture her. Though they manage to find a station and head north, they are being hunted.

In Whitehead's ingenious conception, the Underground Railroad is no mere metaphor—engineers and conductors operate a secret network of tracks and tunnels beneath the Southern soil. Cora and Caesar's first stop is South Carolina, in a city that initially seems like a haven. But the city's placid surface masks an insidious scheme designed for its black denizens. And even worse: Ridgeway, the relentless slave catcher, is close on their heels. Forced to flee again, Cora embarks on a harrowing flight, state by state, seeking true freedom.

Like the protagonist of Gulliver's Travels, Cora encounters different worlds at each stage of her journey—hers is an odyssey through time as well as space. As Whitehead brilliantly re-creates the unique terrors for black people in the pre–Civil War era, his narrative seamlessly weaves the saga of America from the brutal importation of Africans to the unfulfilled promises of the present day. The Underground Railroad is at once a kinetic adventure tale of one woman's ferocious will to escape the horrors of bondage and a shattering, powerful meditation on the history we all share.

Ce que les critiques en disent

"Bahni Turpin's narration is near perfection as she captures the emotional heart of this audiobook.... By using well-crafted dialect and authentic-sounding accents, Turpin believably dramatizes the wide range of characters.... Turpin's strong performance combined with author Whitehead's affecting writing makes this the one audiobook you cannot miss." (
AudioFile)

pretty good

The author was a bit long winded for my taste... lots of unnecessary background information I thought. it's a hard read with all the cruelty but very eye opening at the same time. overall pretty good if you like stories from the slave days.

Moving.

The narrator is exquisite. The story is touching, heartbreaking and informative. It is a shameful part of American history that is told in a way that moves and encourages understanding. Highly recommend.

Great book

Loved it. Had no problems finishing this book. Tough accounts of the life that African Americans lived. We should never forget what our ancestors endured.

Trier :

Trier par:

Au global

5 out of 5 stars

Performance

3 out of 5 stars

Histoire

5 out of 5 stars

JQR

2016-12-01

Stupendous book, hard to follow in audio

I started this on a drive but ended up buying the Kindle version and reading it. It's one of the best books I ever read; deeply moving, vivid, and important. But his time cuts and character introductions make it hard to follow as a listener. The reader was fine; it's the book's structure that's challenging.

122 les gens ont trouvé cela utile

Au global

3 out of 5 stars

Performance

3 out of 5 stars

Histoire

3 out of 5 stars

Nicole

2017-06-01

Hard to follow in audio format

Any additional comments?

The story is fascinating and important, but there are aspects to the story that make it hard to follow in this format. It felt like there were opening quotes, or ads searching for missing slaves at the introduction of each chapter, which didn't translate well in audio. There is also quite a bit of reminiscing done by the characters which also became difficult to understand.I may go back and re-read this sometime because I feel like I kept missing parts. I would recommend the book, but I would recommend reading it as opposed to listening.

80 les gens ont trouvé cela utile

Au global

5 out of 5 stars

Performance

5 out of 5 stars

Histoire

5 out of 5 stars

ibillinsly@gmail

2017-08-18

Narrator is fantastic and the story is a Good one

What did you love best about The Underground Railroad (Oprah's Book Club)?

I like the narrator a lot. I can't make it through a novel unless the narrator is competent, no matter how good the narrative is.

Who was your favorite character and why?

I liked all of the characters. Even the unlikable characters were fun to hear about.

Have you listened to any of Bahni Turpin’s other performances before? How does this one compare?

No I have not, but I will listen to more in the future if she narrates novels in which I am interested. She was the perfect narrator for this story.

Did you have an extreme reaction to this book? Did it make you laugh or cry?

I did not laugh, as this is not a comedic novel, and I have never cried while listening to an audiobook. My reaction was not extreme, but I was interested in the story for the entire way through it.

Any additional comments?

This is brilliant concept in regards to the actual Underground Railroad. I like what the author has done here, and I imagine this novel will be studied in literature classes in the future. I do suggest giving it a try.

23 les gens ont trouvé cela utile

Au global

3 out of 5 stars

Performance

4 out of 5 stars

Histoire

2 out of 5 stars

serine

2016-08-07

Great info, weak story

The subject matter is wonderful and I applaud the efforts of the author to include many details that are often isolated to academic articles. However, though strong on the academic side, the storytelling failed to engage me in the way that really good historical fiction should. I feel almost bad giving a book with a fantastic subject less than a fantastic review, but it simply didn't live up to the hype. The good news is that there is still room for an author who can provide excellent research *and* an engaging story.

I would say that the subject matter is important enough that I would recommend this book, even if the story could have been better.

74 les gens ont trouvé cela utile

Au global

3 out of 5 stars

Performance

4 out of 5 stars

Histoire

3 out of 5 stars

Shelley

2016-08-09

Hard to follow

I was interested in the premise of the book. For there to be an actual Underground Railroad is a very interesting concept. However, the story was very difficult to follow because you were constantly changing back and forth in time. Trying to maintain who was speaking in reference to what was confusing. It was just not as interesting as I'd hoped it would be.

48 les gens ont trouvé cela utile

Au global

2 out of 5 stars

Anonymous User

2017-12-23

Oh, what could have been...

Every great book has a moment, or moments, where it transcends its nature as a mere story and becomes something great, something more. Whitehead sets up many of these moments but fails to execute every time. Certain themes, like that of the body and the idea of torture as entertainment, need to be further explored. The saving grace for this audio book is Banhi Turpin's stellar performance.

2 les gens ont trouvé cela utile

Au global

5 out of 5 stars

Performance

5 out of 5 stars

Histoire

5 out of 5 stars

Brandie

2016-08-03

Gripping

The narrator was excellent! I was unable to out it down! I plan to recommend this book to friends and family.

52 les gens ont trouvé cela utile

Au global

3 out of 5 stars

Performance

3 out of 5 stars

Histoire

3 out of 5 stars

Mel

2016-08-14

Imagining a railroad underground

Whether an author resents the spotlight (Franzen) or views the distinction as manna from heaven, once a book has been branded with The Oprah Winfrey Book Club sticker, I generally feel inclined to pass – only because I am concerned my opinion will be swayed by the shadow of the mega-star. Even here, with a subject I am drawn to, I have to wonder if this is a book that I would have read, and in hindsight I think it's a good book that got a boost. Either way, it was a worthwhile read that I would recommend on its own merits. My early desire to learn about slavery in America was actually ignited by way of Siam (Thailand), circa 1860....

Margaret Landon wrote a novel based on the diaries of Anna Harriette Leonowens that in 1956 would become the fifth musical by the acclaimed team of Rodgers and Hammerstein. The novel was Anna and the King of Siam; the musical was The King and I starring Yul Bryner and Deborah Kerr. As a young child, I saw the film on TV, but I wasn’t too young to experience one of my first *Aha Moments.* The servants of the king stage a surreally beautiful Siamese version of Harriet Beecher Stowe’s Uncle Tom’s Cabin: "The Small House of Uncle Thomas." I told my mother I wanted to be a dancer, and more importantly, I wanted to read the book about Uncle Tom's Cabin. I wouldn't sit down with Eliza, Tom, and the monstrously cruel Simon Legree until years later, but Stowe’s 1852 novel, “Uncle Tom’s Cabin, or Life Among the Lowly,” even though less grand than I expected, ignited the initial spark that helped me understand the inhumanity of slavery.

Author Colson Whitehead sets out to give us history through the haze of a nightmare, imagining the legendary Underground Railroad as an actual train that actually runs underground. Whitehead's railroad is a white-knuckle dark journey where the desperate passengers must blindly put their trust in shadowy strangers; directions and destinations are obscure; the cost to ride may very likely be the escapee's life, or possibly abuse that could make them wish to be dead. To set out to even find the passage to freedom is to step off into the unknown. It is a riveting and emotional read that’s hard to put down. Parts of the story felt nightmarish, otherworldly: the towns where the slaves would hideout, the weekly hanging spectacles, the betrayal by neighbors; at times it had a bizarre carnival atmosphere.

The story succeeds in the tradition of most books in this genre, reminding us of the barbarism and unimaginable cruelties endured by these men, women and children. Additionally, I felt it was more psychological, drawing the reader into the strategies and thinking of Cora. The writing needs to be noted; it is incredible. Whitehead has plenty of official accolades and awards -- it's obvious as you read Underground Railroad that he is an author that deserves the attention. In the future, if considering a novel, his name will be a selling point for me. My feelings, however, were conflicted. I didn't love the actualized metaphor of the underground railroad. I felt in some way it simplified the journey of these people in an otherwise excellent novel. Underground Railroad is worth a read, a reminder – it’s another chapter of the experience, but it didn't enlarge the facts or expand the experience for me. The perspective of imagining, the *what-if* hovered over the story like an interruption. It might be the specter of The Oprah Winfrey Book Club sticker, but it's hard for me to rate this completely objectively. I stick to my first opinion...a good book that got a boost.

64 les gens ont trouvé cela utile

Au global

2 out of 5 stars

Performance

2 out of 5 stars

Histoire

2 out of 5 stars

J.B.

2016-08-06

Does Not Make the Grade

The Underground Railroad (Oprah's Book Club) by Colson Whitehead, and read by Banhi Turpin. The novel, although with some qualities just does not do its job. A disappointment.

This is a potentially very well-conceived story. The account covers a history of a Georgian slave starting with her grandmother’s removal from Africa, to her abandonment by her mother, to slavery life in the South, and then mostly her efforts to escape, and her path in that journey. Does she escape? Is there even such a concept of escape to one who was previously enslaved? Well to find out you can read the book.

The story is excellent in portraying the horrific life of those enslaved. In fact, one could characterize the book as being a horror novel and it could put the The Texas Chain Saw Massacre series to shame for its dismemberment of the human condition. It teaches us the frailty of humankind particularly to each other and chiefly where we can distinguish between ourselves given an inconsequential factor such as skin tones. If you need to be more disgusted about one human owning another this book will provide a plethora of human on human repulsive acts.

The Underground Railroad, itself though, never enthralls the reader. It lumbers on and on and on like the overworked motor of an old refrigerator grumbling in an effort to keep its inners cool. The reader, Ms. Turpin, an iconic reader of black lives novels, is a dullard in this production. Thus, although the story has purpose and potential it never reaches the status of an engrossing tale. One must struggle to complete the book. (Toward the end the story does finally draw you into the plot but that is only about 30 minutes in over ten hours of not too involving literature.)

In addition there is not too much about the Underground Railroad. Yes, its existence is always here and we do learn of the courageous acts of some of its station masters, but there is not much more about its history or what caused its coming into existence or how it operated.

Oprah has had better picks, and although it is not a total waste of time I think there is better literature out there. Not a total flop, just not a whopper.

45 les gens ont trouvé cela utile

Au global

4 out of 5 stars

Performance

4 out of 5 stars

Histoire

3 out of 5 stars

Danielle

2019-02-19

okqy but not great

there's a lot more detail in story upfront..... ending was kind of rushed all of a sudden.